Story Ideas About Mysterious Events and More
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Story Ideas About Mysterious Events
1) Your character's husband/wife slips out of the house every night at two a.m. and doesn't return until morning. When confronted about this, they say only, "It's better for you not to know..."
2) Hidden in their house, your character finds what appears to be a voodoo doll in their own image...
3) Your character goes to a job interview and is almost immediately offered a job. The salary is huge, but the job description was so vague that the character has no idea what they will actually be expected to do. Nor do they have any information about the company they'll be working for. "Don't worry," says your character's new employer. "All you have to do is show up. I'll see you Monday?"
4) Every night, your character has been dreaming about the same house, a house they can't remember ever having seen before...
5) A stranger stops your character in the street, says their name, and tells them, "Be in the lobby of the Palace Hotel at midnight." Before your character can ask any questions, the stranger has hurried away...
6) A murder has taken place in a cabin in the middle of a snowy field. Your character finds three sets of footsteps entering the cabin, but none leaving. Apart from the victim, no one else seems to be there. What is going on?
7) Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, your character's husband or wife seems furious with your character. "We'll stay together for the kids," they tell your character coldly, and will say nothing else when they're alone together, although they put on an act of normalcy in front of other people. Up until then, the marriage had been very happy, and your character has no idea what's going on. They think there must be some terrible misunderstanding, but how can your character resolve it when they don't know what it is?
8) Someone has reprogrammed the GPS in your character's car to go to an address that your character doesn't recognize. Your character lives alone, and no one else has the keys to their car. Your character decides it must be a computer error and deletes the new address. But the next day, the GPS has been reprogrammed again, and on the front passenger seat is a map with a circle marking the same mysterious address...
9) Your character starts dating someone new and is amazed at how much they have in common. They seem to have all the same interests and opinions! But by the second date, your character begins to have an uneasy feeling. Every opinion that this person expresses is exactly what your character would have said himself/herself, practically in your character's own words. It seems like too much of a coincidence. It is almost as if this person had studied your character ahead of time and was playing a role. But how is that possible, and why would anyone do that?
10) Your character's in a new romantic relationship. Everything seems to be going well, until one day their new boyfriend's ex shows up at your character's door. The ex warns your character that the boyfriend is not who your character thinks he is...
11) One night, your character dreams their sister has a minor car accident. The next day, this event actually happens. The following nights, your character has several other dreams that almost immediately come true. Then your character has a dream about a murder at their cousin's wedding. The dream doesn't tell your character who gets murdered, or who the killer is. But your character is determined to find out before the wedding, which is scheduled for that weekend...
12) On a visit to their parents' house, your character finds their own childhood diary. Inside are descriptions of important events your character doesn't remember at all. Reading the diary, your character begins to question their beliefs about their past...
13) Your character comes home and finds the door to their house unlocked. On the kitchen table is a half-played chess game. No one else seems to be home, and when your character explores the bedrooms, they find that clothes and suitcases are gone. What is going on?
14) Your character begins to get nightly phone calls from someone who sounds exactly like their grandmother, who died years ago...
Story Ideas about Mistaken Identities
1) Your character receives a mysterious phone call telling him/her to go to a particular location "if you ever want to see Jason again." Your character doesn't know anyone named Jason, but s/he decides to follow the caller's instructions...
2) Your character is using her sister Sandra's computer when an email comes in from a man named Ivan. Ivan confesses that he has secretly loved Sandra for years. His email is so emotional and moving that your character decides that she wants this man for herself (Sandra clearly doesn't appreciate him). She decides to take matters into her own hands...
3) Your character looks a lot like a particular celebrity. A fan of this celebrity comes up to your character, and your character decides to play along, just for fun. But this fan turns out to be REALLY obsessed with the celebrity -- creepily obsessed. When the situation starts to spin out of control, your character tries to tell the fan that s/he isn't actually the celebrity, but the fan refuses to believe him or her...
4) Your character is waiting to be picked up at the airport by a cousin s/he has never met, to go to a family reunion. When a man approaches your character, s/he follows him to his car, making polite conversation. At some point, your character realizes that this man isn't actually his/her cousin but a stranger...
Three Elements
Choose a set of three elements, and write a story that contains all three of them!
1) A new boyfriend, an anonymous letter, and some terrible advice.
2) A favorite song, the number seven, and a scream in the night.
3) A Facebook update, a fake diamond, and a plot for revenge.
4) A beauty queen, a sprained ankle, and an ethical dilemma.
5) A going-away party, false eyelashes, and a very dark room.
6) A goldfish, a babysitter, and an unfortunate tattoo.
7) An online dating service, a foreign language, and a nosy neighbor.
8) A bargain, a tombstone, and a disobedient pet.
9) A job interview, a footprint, and a New Year's resolution.
10) Half a necklace, a messy desk, and a case of mistaken identity.
First Lines
Here are some first lines that you can use to begin stories of your own.
1) "Don't move," he whispered.
2) The scream sounded far away.
3) I turned away before she could see my face.
4) If it hadn't rained that night, everything would have turned out differently.
5) My fingernails scrabbled against smooth stone.
6) The first time was the hardest.
7) The strange blue light shone through the trees.
8) It was the opposite of love at first sight.
9) "I don't know him," I lied.
10) Someone, or something, was watching.
More Story Ideas
1) Your character's best friend is very upset. She has just spent all her savings on a new house, but after just one night, she says that she can't live there, that there's something horribly creepy about the place. Your character tells the friend that it's a lovely house and she's being irrational. To convince her, she offers to stay there with her the following night...
2) Your character and his wife have been caring for a foster child, David. They love this child and decide to adopt him. Just when the adoption is about to go through, David's natural father changes his mind and decides he wants to take David home. Your character is heartbroken -- and also seriously alarmed for David's welfare. David's natural father is not a suitable parent. Your character is ready to do whatever it takes to keep David -- even if it means breaking the law...
3) Your character comes home one evening, and is startled to find a stranger in his/her kitchen. "I know you must be wondering who I am and what I'm doing in your house," the stranger says, "and I promise that I'll explain everything. But, first, there's something I need you to do..."
4) Create a character based on a real person whom you've always found mysterious. Write a story in which you try to get inside that person's mind.
5) Write a story in which the main character has to choose between two things s/he really wants (for example, his/her ideal job and his/her ideal romantic partner). Invent a situation in which the character really has to give up one of them in order to get the other.
6) Write a story based on a dream you've had. Something from your dream actually happens to your main character.
7) Write a story in which the main character does something you'd like to do in real life but don't dare.
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